Trivia Tuesday: Lionel Atwill

Died on this day in 1946 from pneumonia

Known for having wild sex parties, he was sentenced to five years probation in 1943 for perjury in the investigation of alleged orgies at his home. He later applied for and was granted termination of his sentence and it was expunged from his record.

Appeared in five of the eight "Frankenstein" films produced by Universal studios from 1931 to 1948.

Famous form playing Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939). His portrayal was later spoofed by Kenneth Mars in Young Frankenstein (1974).

Died while filming Lost City of the Jungle. A double was used to help complete his remaining scenes.

Starred in two early two-strip Technicolor films: Doctor X and Mystery at the Wax Museum, both with Fay Wray.

His third wife, Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brook MacArthur, was previously married to Douglas MacArthur.

His first son, John Arthur Atwill, was killed in action during WWII.

Studied architecture before becoming an actor.

Nickname was "Pinky" because of the reddish coloring of his hair. 

31 Days of Horror: Halloween (1978)

How can you not watch Halloween on Halloween? 

31 Days of Horror: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

This is the best and closest interpretation of Oscar Wilde's story.

31 Days of Horror: Island of Lost Souls (1932)

The original classic starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi.

31 Days of Horror: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

Fredric March was the first actor to win a best actor oscar for a role in a horror film.

31 Days of Horror: The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

The original Lon Chaney classic from 1925.

31 Days of Horror: Creepshow (1982)

Great stories by Stephen King, and great actors such as Leslie Nielson, Hal Holbrook, Fritz Weaver, E.G. Marshall as the stars. This also has a great comic book stylization for all of the stories that makes you think of the Tales from the Crypt comics, although there's no relation.

31 Days of Horror: Tales of Terror (1962)

Another great anthology series starring Vincent Price!

31 Days of Horror: The Mummy (1932)

The original Karloff classic! Jack Pierce's makeup is extraordinary!

31 Days of Horror: Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Other than White Zombie, this is the only other zombie movie I like.

31 Days of Horror: Village of the Damned (1960)

The original classic, starring one of my favorite actors, George Sanders.

31 Days of Horror: Mania (1960)

Also released under the title The Flesh and the Fiends

31 Days of Horror: Freaks

The original cult classic, Freaks

31 Days of Horror: The Creature From The Black Lagoon

From The Creature From The Black Lagoon

31 Days of Horror: The Invisible Man (1933)

From The Invisible Man

31 Days of Horror: Mad Love (1935)

One of my favorites, Mad Love features Peter Lorre at his creepiest in his first American film role. Lorre plays Dr. Gogol, a surgeon obsessed with an actress who's married to famed pianist Stephen Orlac. When Gogol transplants a murderer's hands onto Orlac after his have been mangled in a train accident, Gogol uses this to try to drive Orlac mad in order to have Orlac's wife. After seeing this film, Charlie Chaplin called Peter Lorre "the screen's greatest living actor", and he certainly gives a mesmerizing performance as the brilliant but isolated and obsessed surgeon, particularly near the end when his madness has taken over and he believes he is close to achieving his goals.

31 Days of Horror: The Black Cat (1934)

The Black Cat is next on my list for Halloween viewing. This film marks the first time that Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi were paired on screen and it also has the distinction of being the highest grossing film of 1934; a pretty big achievement when you consider that it only has a 65 minute run time! In those 65 minutes though, Edgar G. Ulmer packs in devil worship, torture, human sacrifice, murder, and a host of other items that would have caused the film to be banned if it had been released just a few months later when the production code went into effect. Besides a fantastic storyline, The Black Cat also has stunning visuals with a futuristic art deco set and lighting and camera angles that are reminiscent of German expressionist film. A unique and thrilling horror, The Black Cat should not be missed!

31 Days of Horror: The Body Snatcher (1945)

The crimes of the infamous murderers Burke and Hare were the basis for Robert Louis Stevenson's short story, later turned into a film, The Body Snatcher. Produced by Val Lewton and directed by Robert Wise, The Body Snatcher was one of RKO's great atmospheric horror films, providing chills more through suggestion than through the actual revelation of a monster. These atmospheric touches were the work of Val Lewton, who became famous for creating high quality horror on low budgets. When you have a story of grave robbing, spooky atmosphere, and Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in their last screen pairing together, you get a creepy classic that, for me, has become a Halloween viewing tradition. 

31 Days of Horror: The Omen (1976)

One of my absolute favorites, you simply can't skip over The Omen when planning your Halloween viewing! It may sound a bit gruesome, but one of my favorite things about this film is the unique ways in which many of the characters die, and they're all in the guise of being accidents. The fact that many of the things that occur in the film can be passed off as coincidence or accident is perhaps one of the things that makes The Omen a classic and so memorable. Without an obvious presence of supernatural activity, it's very easy to believe that these things could really happen

31 Days of Horror: The Wolf Man (1941)

Released in 1941, The Wolf Man came to be known as the film that revived Universal horror. The Wolf Man is one of the few monster films where the source material isn't based on literature; it was also instrumental in contributing to the mythology and legend of the werewolf. The idea that a werewolf could be killed by silver, that a person would become a werewolf through a bite and change during a full moon all came from this film. Perhaps the most significant item to have come from this film is the oft repeated poem "even a man who is pure in heart may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." Some people truly believe this to be gypsy folklore, but it was actually writer Kurt Siodmak who created it, along with the other werewolf "folklore". While this may not have been the first werewolf film, Werewolf of London has that honor, it is the most significant in contributing to the mythology for all werewolf films to follow.